College Volleyball
Rider University 3, Canisius College 1
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Match

LAWRENCEVILLE—The Rider University volleyball team won its third match in a row and matched its win total from 2013 with a 3-1 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Canisius College on Saturday afternoon in Alumni Gymnasium.

"I've watched the program grow over the past four seasons," said head coach Christopher Feliciano. "The effort was nice to see today. We've grown as individuals and as a team and we believe in the system. To know where we were and where we are trying to be, this is outstanding."

Rider (15-11, 8-4 MAAC) won 25-19, 25-15, 25-27, 25-16 to sweep the season series from the Golden Griffins.

For the Broncs, senior Jaclyn Webber (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon) had 17 digs, 15 kills and three blocks with an attack percentage of .310.

"When Jaclyn puts her mind to it, she is very coachable," said Feliciano. "She did everything she wanted to do today because of the work she put in during the week. She took advantage of some good passes from the setters, Amatulli and Koval. Kudos to them for doing that and Jaclyn made some really nice choices. Anytime your outside hitter hits over .300, you have a good chance to win the match."

"We were 5-25 when I was a freshman so to get 15 wins, two seasons in a row, hitting that mark is above and beyond expectations," said Webber.  "The bigger number is the conference wins and the fact that we have already surpassed last season's record. Our goal is to win a conference championship and while that may be a lofty goal, we are still building toward that."

Also for Rider, senior Ashlee Amatulli (Menifee, Calif./Temecula Valley) recorded 28 assists, freshman Veronica Koval (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) had 21 assists and rookie Emma Aldaya (Prospect Park, Pa./Merion Mercy Academy) compiled 26 digs.

Rider out-hit Canisius .272 to .132.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Griffin (Chesapeake, Va./Hickory) had 10 kills, five digs and five blocks with sophomore Ryan Ackermann (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) adding 14 kills while attacking .462.

Rider defeated Canisius 3-0 in Buffalo, New York on September 28.

"We love to play Canisius because they play hard," Webber said. "They scouted us just as hard as we scouted them and they made some adjustments in the third set that we weren't ready for and we had to make adjustments to win the fourth set."

"Canisius battled," Feliciano said. "A few years ago, we drop that third set, it was guaranteed to be going to five and the fact that we posted our best set (25-16) in the fourth set to clinch the match says a lot about the mental toughness of the team."

Rider and Canisius met twice last season with the Golden Griffins winning 3-0 in Buffalo and 3-1 in Lawrenceville. Rider is now 5-23 all-time against Canisius. The Golden Griffins had defeated Rider 16 times in a row prior to this season.

Rider hosts Niagara in a MAAC match at 1pm on Sunday.

-RU-